Details

LOT 1094

Jemdet Nasr Period Steatite Cylinder Seal

CIRCA 3000 B.C.

5/8 in. (10.77 grams, 17 mm).

Accompanied by a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of soft Black Stone, 18 x 18 mm. The art shows a row of three horned animals, each distinct from the other two by its horns. Over the backs of two there is a ladder motif. This is a seal of the Jemdet Nasr period, c. 3000 B.C., from Mesopotamia or south-west Iran. The bodies of the animals are carefully modelled and the whole work is deeply engraved so that in the impression the animals stand out in deep relief. Of its kind this is a good example, in fine state of preservation. The ideology behind this scene comes from temple herds, because ordinary people rarely owned the larger domesticated animals, but normally sheep and goats. Thus cattle and other horned quadrupeds which were being domesticated at this time were the prized possession of the community. The ladder pattern is probably a stylized form of an ear of barley, which occurs (disproportionately large) behind the animal in some more detailed seal of this period.'; supplied with a museum-quality impression.

Provenance

From the private collection of a North American lady, formed 1970s-early 1990s, with collection reference no.119-2.

Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert dated December 1991.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.